Republika Srpska

Republika Srpska, (Serbian:Република Српскa) is one of the two political entities that compose Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Situated in the northern and eastern parts of the country, it is defined by its rich natural heritage, encompassing dense forests, mountains, and rivers. Its largest city and de facto capital, on the river Vrbas, is Banja Luka.

Republika Srpska
The territory that now makes up Republika Srpska, initially subject to Illyrian and Celticsettlement, was invaded by the Slavs in the 6th and 7th centuries and, in the mediaeval era, it was variously ruled by the Byzantine Empire, mediaeval Serbian states, the Frankish Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bosnia, the medieval Kingdom of Hungary and, by the end of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire. After centuries of Ottoman-Habsburg conflict, the area became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 following World War I. Following World War II, it became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as part of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The creation of the modern entity of Republika Srpska dates to 1991, when six Serb Autonomous Regionsunited during the Yugoslav Wars. It achieved international recognition following the Dayton Accords and the end of the Bosnian War in 1995.

Today, Republika Srpska maintains a parliamentary-style government, with the National Assembly holding legislative power within the entity. Republika Srpska is relatively centralised, although it is split into 2nd-level administrative units—municipalities, or opštine—of which there are 64. The legislature holds 83 seats, and the current session is the ninth since the formation of Republika Srpska.

Politics
According to its constitution, Republika Srpska has its own president, legislature (the 83-member unicameral National Assembly of Republika Srpska), executive government, police force, court system, customs service (under the state-level customs service), and postal service. It also has official symbols, including a coat of arms, a flag (a variant of the Serbian flag without the coat of arms displayed) and its entity anthem. The Constitutional Law on the Coat of Arms and Anthem of Republika Srpska was ruled not in concordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as it states that those symbols 'represent the statehood of Republika Srpska' and are used 'in accordance with moral norms of the Serb people'. According to the Constitutional Court's decision, the Law was to be corrected by September 2006. Republika Srpska later changed its emblem.

Although the constitution names Istočno Sarajevo as the capital of Republika Srpska, the northwestern city of Banja Luka is the headquarters of most of the institutions of government, including the parliament, and is therefore the de facto capital. After the war, Republika Srpska retained its army, but in August 2005, the parliament consented to transfer control of Army of Republika Srpska to a state-level ministry and abolish the entity's defence ministry and army by 1 January 2006. These reforms were required by NATO as a precondition of Bosnia and Herzegovina's admission to the Partnership for Peaceprogramme. Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the programme in December 2006.

Relations
In September 2006, Republika Srpska officials signed a special ties agreement with Serbia aimed at promoting economic and institutional cooperation between Serbia and Republika Srpska. The accord was signed by Serbia's President Boris Tadić and Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, former Republika Srpska President Dragan Čavić, and Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik.

In February 2009, Republika Srpska opened a representative office in Brussels. While European Union representatives were not present at the ceremony, top Republika Srpska officials attended the event, saying it would advance their economic, political and cultural relations with the EU. This notion has been strongly condemned by Bosniak leaders, saying that this is further proof of Republika Srpska distancing itself from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The president of Republika Srpska, Rajko Kuzmanović, told reporters that this move did not jeopardise Republika Srpska's place within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He added that Republika Srpska merely used its constitutional right 'to open up a representation office in the centre of developments of European relevance'. Republika Srpska maintains official offices in Belgrade, Moscow, Stuttgart, Jerusalem, Thessaloniki, Washington D.C., Brussels, and Vienna.